News:Nov's Writing Contest: the results!
Whew! After over 90 entries and a tough week of judging I am very pleased to have the privilege of announcing the results of November's Writing Contest! The winners are as follows: First Place - Bamboo Kitten #668955 Second Place - Australis #66771 Third Place - Eomira #56774 Honourable Mentions - Janellanti #816805 and Dragon’s Wing #374272 Also Ailyse #439265 should be congratulated for making our top 5 stories into a top 6 :P The amount of talent and creativity meant that the decisions on the top places weren't easy to make, and I'd like to thank absolutely everybody who took part. Hopefully it was pretty fun! However I'd especially like to thank the following players: Cemmy (#464535), FTLOSM (#601905), Aura (#817717), Santoku (#816820), Erised (#392) and Hannah (#765273) for the exceptional achievement of judging an unprecedented number of story entries in the space of a single week! Without them this contest couldn't have happened, so if you spot them around I think they all deserve a metaphorical pat on the back ;) You can also give Panda Protector a massive great big thump on the back (again metaphorically, no violence here please!) for patiently collecting, sorting and compiling all the stories together. Yay for all our judges & PP! As promised, the winning story will now be featured in the news for you all to read (so keep reading!). You can also view the other top stories by clicking on the November 2009 Writing Contest Results thread! Original The Case of the Pilfering Procyon Lotor By Bamboo Kitten #668955 (Reading should be done in 50's style detective intonation.) The name is Paws, detective paws. I was enjoying the bright sunshine streaming through my office window, sipping my cup of double espresso mocha latte when this dame walks in, heels on fire. "heya there, doll face. What can I do you for?" I ask, slowly setting down my cup of Joe, so as not to let her know I hadn't had a case in weeks. "Please sir, I heard you were the best detective in town and I desperately need your help. See, many Fpians have been having their pockets pilfered by a masked bandit and if I discover the how and why I could be greatly rewarded," she says to me, batting her eyelashes, which seems to be the feminine equivalent of please these days. "No sweat" I tell her cool as a cucumber, "This is right up my alley. You got any background info on the perp?" She hands me a large envelope. I tear it open and leaf through a stack of prior crimes, their times and dates, and the amount of long green swiped. "I'll buzz you as soon as I've got the culprit's modus operandi," I tell her. She tosses some bread my way, "incentive for a quick job" she says in a coaxing voice. I eyeball her suspiciously, catching the bread in a paw. "No chocolate right? I can't have chocolate, makes me deathly sick." "Nope, just peanut butter," she says. "The real bread will come after the job's done." With that she turns and walks out of the office as if all matters are settled. I sigh, I really am a sucker for bread, the food and the long green kind. Plus I really haven't worked a case in a while. So I pull out a chew-marked pencil from my desk drawer and begin jotting down notes. "this place is antsville," I think to myself as I traverse the grounds of FP; canines and humans everywhere. And of course everyone's got to stop and coo at the dog detective. I buff up my willpower to keep from being distracted and begin interviewing eye-witnesses. "So dolly, what you're telling me is with no rhyme or reason this unidentified raccoon just sneaks up to you, grabs a chunk of green, and dashes away?" "Yes," she replies, nodding her head emphatically at me while busily grooming a very waggy Labrador. "It was all so sudden, I never saw which way he went." "well, thanks for your time." I excuse myself and continue gathering accounts from other victims. After a day of evidence gathering, I realize that this gig is going to require some bait. I stuff my trench coat pockets full of nuggets and begin wandering about like any other casual Fpian. I figure sooner or later, the perp will target me, especially with money practically spilling out of my pockets. So I'm sitting there about 4:00PM engrossed in a game of bingo, when bam! The culprit pulls his bit and I feel my pockets grow lighter. Since I'm a top-notch detective pooch I was at the ready and quickly began the chase. I leaped over dumpsters, dashed around strolling Fpians, and followed the bandit's scent across a green grass field and to an old hollowed-out log. I quickly ducked behind a bush and eyeballed the thief from my hidden vantage point. He had been so busy dashing away, he hadn't even noticed me giving chase. My paws ached, I hadn't burned rubber like that since my junior days as a racing dog before turning to a life of detective work. Too soon for my sore paws, I noticed the perp, a thinnish raccoon, adult, male, emerge from the log and begin trekking back towards FP. I stealthily trailed him as he made his way to the local FP food store. Pulling out my stolen cash from a small black sac, he traded it in for a stack of Lacrima Canned Salmon Dinners. Perplexed, I forgot my sore paws and trotted back to the raccoon's hideaway to await his return. Soon after my arrival Mr. raccoon returned and set the food down near his log pad. He made a low chittering noise and a group of three squealing ankle biters emerged from the log. They gathered around the food and began eating like crazy. "He's stealing money to feed his kids," I concluded to myself and split. "So you see Doll face, it looks like your pilfering perp is just trying to feed his famished family." I tell the dame the next morning in my office. "I see," she says and appears lost in thought. "Well as promised for a job well-done," she says dropping a stack of long green on my desk. As she leaves, I sigh to myself for the sucker that I am and take the stack of cash to the FP store, trading it in for cans of every kind of food. I revisit the raccoon's log and deposit them at the entrance with a note: Dear Mr. Coon, You know, if you just asked, I'm sure the FPians would be more than happy to help you out. They're a nice bunch. -------------------------------------------------------------- Please watch out for another Christmassy Writing Contest coming soon to an FP near you! ;D Delf, PP, the judges & ALL the other Mods. Trivia :The image of the Raccoon was added 08:20 AM Wednesday, December 16th.